The bathrooms were waxed with some after shine that made the whole thing seem to glow. Each toilet was a throne in itself. The caricature at the center of the central bathroom pillar made Mitch feel uneasy as he washed his hands. He was relieved that wherever he had ended up, the place seemed to have running water and basic facilities. What was more impressive to Mitch was the lack of exposed pipes. He even bent down to check under the sink to see if there was a pipe running down and out, but strangely enough, it seemed as if the water had nowhere to go after it was drained. So the big question was, where did the water go?

It struck him then, that a lot of engineering in this world was supported by magic. Sir Aldweck’s SparkNotes pulled through this time, Mitch thought to himself. He looked down at his hands as they shook uncontrollably. He grasped his wrist, trying to steady his breathing. No matter how calm he’s been up until now, his anxiety was starting to skyrocket.

He looked into the mirror. He didn’t recognize the Mitch that he was, but the Aldweck whose body he had stolen. His eyes were dark green with black slicked-back hair that was long and wavy. His body was somewhat muscular, but not to the point to be considered a bodybuilder. If nothing else, Aldweck was more athletic than Mitch’s former self.

Aldweck had been an extremely versatile and fluent user of magic in his past, that Mitch could remember. It made him almost excited despite his nerves. He faced his palm away from himself and pointed it at the door. Trying to remember how the most basic fire spell was cast, fireball. With suitable recall, he tried to envision the magic energy and dispel it out of his palm. Unfortunately, nothing came out.

“I don’t think I did anything wrong?” He sounded angry as he tried again multiple times.

“Sir Aldweck, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” A loud voice erupted from behind Aldweck, and his back straightened out in surprise, he turned around to face the voice. His eyes were set on a boy who was about a foot shorter than himself.

He had dark freckles dotting his face and brown eyes and hair to match, “How dare you leave me behind again! My job as your servant entails many tasks, but don’t treat me like an annoyance!” He crossed his arms and gave a hurt expression.

Aldweck had never liked this guy in the past, and Mitch wasn’t feeling it either.

“Uh, yeah! Sorry about that Erick.” He scratched his temple before walking toward the bathroom exit.

Erick was uncomfortably close to Aldweck as they left the bathroom. Erick’s speech bolted off like a race dog.

“You should be more careful. A high-profile knight like yourself could face danger at any moment on board an international cruise line. Do you know how many times your life has been attempted since I was directed as your servant three years ago? How many Aldweck? How MANY?!”

In liaison, they said, “Forty-seven times.”

“At least you remember something. What happened to your confidence, sir? You are akin to a dried-up and rotten potato!” Erick froze, realizing his mistake, “Forgive me for my insolence! I will see to it that you are doubly accommodated for. This Erick of yours will not be--”

“Silence! If you want to make it up to me,” He stopped walking and thought for a moment, “Cast a fireball for me.” Aldweck said, hoping to see how hard the spell really was to cast. His eyes were glossy with desire and also fear that he may be acting too strangely. Was he sweating? He couldn’t tell, and checking might draw attention to himself.

“What a peculiar request, but if you so wish. I will show my fireball magic to you, great master.” Erick held his hand out and out came a huge fireball that was triple the size of what Aldweck had been expecting.

“Woah!” Aldweck said.

“What?” Erick looked around for whatever had surprised his master.

“A-Ah, forget that.” He cast a nervous glance, “How are you going to get rid of it now that you’ve cast it?”

Erick’s face twisted a few times to try and wrap his mind around his master’s behavior. Maybe Aldweck was testing him? That was a strange thing for him to ask. Usually, his master wasn’t this curious, but he had never known his master to be an actor of any design.

“Well, that’s easy. Raphael Warner put a unique property on all his cruise liners.” Erick shot the fireball and it destroyed the wall in front of them. Lighting it on fire and revealing the underside of the wall.

Just as Mitch was about to shout in disbelief, the wall started to grow back like some organic tissue.

“What the hell? Who is Raphael Warner?” Aldweck said instinctively, his legs starting to shake at the sheer absurdness of the situation he was in. Mitch’s heart was beating so fast he wanted to go back to his real world and forget all of this ever happened, but what could he do besides keep breathing?

“The owner of the Glowing Mariot Cruise Line. He’s a powerful figure here in the South.” Erick said.

“Oh, I remember now.” A memory flashed through Aldweck’s head, albeit late.

Erick frowned as he blew the smoke from his hand. Something was odd about his master. Had he been poisoned? What kind of spell had he been put under to act this strangely? He couldn’t deny the possibility that he was being blackmailed either. Erick rubbed his chin as if he were thinking hard about something. “No matter, I’ll just keep a close watch on it.” He smiled and looked back at Aldweck.

“A close watch on what? Hmm?” Aldweck said with paranoia in his tone of voice. He was sure he was sweating at this point, and this time he did actually check. Though he brushed it off after Erick started talking.

“Nothing, just thinking to myself! Shall we head to the dining hall? The great dinner for the evening is about to begin. I hear Lord Warner will be there as well, which should interest you since we’re here on official business. Remember?”

Aldweck had a eureka moment, his eyes flashing for a second before smiling back at Erick. “You’re right. We best go now. There’s no time to squander.” Mitch was doing his best to imitate the fancy dialect that he had noticed. Was it passable?

Aldweck had been on official business this entire time. Sent as an emissary by the king, he was supposed to establish friendly relations with the rogue lord, Raphael Warner. A powerful figure in the Southern Mariot Sea. Having his backing would mean a stronger military might for Mariotta, having a second defender at their waters.

Aldweck didn’t have any desire to do the bidding of this past life, but he felt stuck in a movie that was already playing. He didn’t have the remote to just hit pause. There weren’t any keyholes in the bathroom, not that there should have been in the first place. Aldweck didn’t have a key even if he wanted to get back, which was what he suspected was the trigger. He had to find out more about the key and its origins. Did it relate to that strange book written by Roses? This made Mitch think closely about the relevance between this reality and his past. Why was he here? What about his old body?

They walked back through the common room and entered a hanger hallway that was attached to it. The carpet was a beautiful red contrast to the blue hue of light that filled up the boat’s already luxurious demeanor.

The dining hall was the size of Mitch’s old house and double that. Its ceiling was extensive and the walls were wide and airy. A great windowpane looked out to the sea’s horizon as they drifted along the surface of the ocean. The table was so wide that it was impossible to reach directly across from it on either side. Not to mention its length was enough to host a hundred people.

Aldweck stopped at the entrance of this fine-dining hall and looked around at all the people. Many of them were dressed up and had a happy pivot in their step. Duke Fourgon had entered from a second entrance with sweat gleamed across his face. He had been busy. Aldweck laughed genuinely for the first time since he had been imposed upon a new world. Even though that laugh was more of a nervous chuckle.

Erick felt a little relief in his worried heart, but that did not dispel his fears of something worse going on.

At the main entrance was a second-story balcony where a man came out and leaned over the railing, “Please, seat yourselves. The dinner is about to begin. I will be down shortly.” He clasped his hands together. This man had grey hair, his beard burly and present as well. His figure was dignified and powerful. Even Aldweck’s memories of this man were not to be taken lightly. This was the Lord of this ship.

Just as Aldweck was about to sit down in any random chair far away from the people he didn’t want to get involved in, Erick shouted in his ear.

“What are you doing Sir Aldweck! You shouldn’t lower yourself to this seat at all. You are being too humble! Your seat is to be beside Lord Warner, as the third most prestigious guest here on the entire cruise!” He shouted, anger in his voice.

That drew a few eyes, Aldweck thought to himself, “I was merely joking with you young Erick. Do not be alarmed.” He coughed, having trouble swallowing. Did they make deodorants in this world? Aldweck was sure he was permeating a vile stench from his pits at this rate. His resting heart rate was similar to the kind of adrenaline a rollercoaster would give. Surely he was too young to have a heart attack right?

Aldweck didn’t know how long he could keep up this conspiracy. Even if he lasted, his entire personality was bound to change and people would finally accept it as normal right? He had his doubts as his heart sunk to the bottom of his stomach.

Aldweck scooted the seat with his nameplate on it and sat there near the head of the table, surprised he had a chair with his name. He was one seat away from sitting right beside Lord Warner at the head of the table. This made him wonder who had higher status than him on this ship? Aldweck thought that being this high-profile was exhausting. People watching your every move like a celebrity is not an endearing quality in life. He exhaled and rested his arms on the table, furrowing his hands through his hair. “Come on Mitch...keep it together.”

A beautiful woman with long legs and curled blonde lockets approached the table. Her demeanor was prideful and her eyes were fixated on Aldweck the entire time. She slowly approached the table with her tight-fitting white dress before sliding out the first chair and sitting with a cautious and elegant air.

On the chair, the nameplate said, “Zaya.” A surge of memories appeared in Aldweck’s mind as he ogled the woman he was sitting by, which was starting to become all too convenient or inconvenient depending on how Mitch felt after the fact.

“You act like you just saw a ghost Aldweck. Does it take you that long to realize you’re sitting beside your ex?” She frowned.

“Ah-ha. No-I mean, I was just taken by surprise is all!”

Aldweck was visibly blushing while Zaya analyzed his face. Aldweck was scanning all the memories he had of this woman in the past in the span of a few seconds. It gave him mixed feelings, but Mitch really wasn’t surprised anymore. Aldweck was no pushover when he was still the owner of his own body.

“It seems Mariotta has grown weak along with you. I’m disappointed to see your backbone has all but disappeared. What a shame, and here I thought you might try and court me for real this time.” She said, sighing.

Aldweck cursed himself and this wench under his breath. He didn’t care about this woman, he had no feelings for her but how could she act so high and mighty in front of a national hero? He didn’t like this woman at all. She had too much pride.

“Do you really intend to keep staring at the national hero of the Harbright Empire? Are you seeking death?” Zaya narrowed her eyes and Aldweck immediately felt despair. The entire room was enveloped in an eerie wind and the chatter began to die down and focus on the two national heroes in the room.

“I-Is Sir Aldweck challenging Zaya the Conqueror?!”

“Does he want to die?”

“Do we all have to go down with his foolishness?”

They all started chatting amongst themselves. It didn’t take that much of a hint for Aldweck to understand the situation. Even if he was a notable and powerful figure in this life, there was always a bigger fish and this time it somehow was his ex. He was about to puke from how much he had already fucked up in this dude’s body. Mitch was willing to bet he wouldn’t be able to see the sunrise ever again because he was sure to die at this rate.

“Apologies Zaya! I-I was out of line.” Aldweck gulped. Erick was standing several feet back holding his chest before clumping to his knees. He felt little relief as the intense air disappeared.

Aldweck was still terrified, but now he was frustrated that he had been embarrassed in front of the entire dining hall. He was here to convince Lord Warner into an alliance with his kingdom, but how was he supposed to do that with his ex ready to cut his throat at any moment? Let alone the fact that he hadn’t figured out how to use any magic yet. Aldweck had a terrible feeling pitted in his stomach that these negotiations were about to go as good as ice cream under the sun.

At that moment, Lord Warner arrived with a simple white robe and a small crown delicately placed on his head. He stood at the forefront of the table as two fully armored knights appeared behind him.

“Let the great dinner begin!”